Hinge for school-desk seats



(No Model.)

' F. E. DRURY & 0. C. CLARK.

HINGE FOR SCHOOL DESK SEATS.

No. 463,622. Patented Nov/2'24, 1891.

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ivrrno STATES ATENT FFICE.

FRANCIS E. DRURY AND OGDEN C. CLARK, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

HINGE FOR SCHOOL-DESK SEATS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 463,622, dated November24, 1891.

Application filed May 13, 1891. Serial No. 392,546. (No model.) Y

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, FRANCIS E. DRURY and OGDEN C. CLARK, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga andState of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inHinges for School-Desk Seats; and we do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,which will enable-others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

Our invention relates to improvements in hinges for school-desk seats;and our invention consists in a spring-hinge constructed and operatingsubstantially as shown and described, and particularly pointed out inthe claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of aseat-frame, showing the seat as it appears when raised and its relationto the desk in front. Fig. 2 shows a side elevation of a desk with aseat attached and down, as when occupied. Fig. 3 is a side elevation ofone of the seat-arms. Fig. 4 is a perspective View of thespring-supporting sleeve and head with radial projections on its face,to fix the vadj ustment of the spring. Fig. 5 is a perspective view,enlarged, of the projection of the desk-standard to which the seat isdirectly pivoted. Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the several partsunited on line a: 00, Fig. 2.

A represents the desk or seat standard provided with a projectingportion at its front having a disk-shaped extremity a, to which theseat-arm is hinged. This portion a has upon its face, looking inward,one or more teeth or lugs a, adapted to engage and lock upon the head ofthe spring-supporting sleeve, as hereinafter more fully described.

B represents a seat-arm, two of which arms are used for each seat, asusual. This arm has at its pivot-point an outwardly-projecting socket b,tapering, preferably, toward its outer extremity and of such length asnot to be an obstruction or in. the way, and yet large enough toaccommodate a helical spring C for automatically raising the seat intoperpendicular position, as seen in Fig. 1, when the pupil rises. Thedepth of this socket need not exceed an inch and a half, and three orfour coils of eighth-of-an-inoh wire will answer for the spring, so thatwith the usual width of seat the socket will be overlapped and coveredand be wholly out of the way.

The disk-shaped extremity a of the standard A has a shoulder a whichfits within the large end of the socket, as seen in Fig. 6,'and servesto take the weight upon the seat and relieve the bolt D, which holds theseveral parts together. This part a also has a cavity a about thebolt-hole on its inner side, into which the inner end of the sleeve Eextends and by which this end of the sleeve is supported. The projections,lugs, or teeth a are on the face of disk a about this cavity andare engaged by the radial teeth 9 on the disk 9 on the sleeve Thissleeve has a central passage for the bolt D,'a part of which is angularin cross-section, as seen in detached sectional View connected with'Fig.4, and the bolt D is angular in crosssection toward its head, so as topreventthe bolt from turning in said sleeve. Any construction of theseparts which will prevent the axial turning of the bolt in the sleeve maybe adopted. The bolt D passes through a washer h on the outer end of thesocket b,'and is secured by a nut bearing against the standard A. Oneend of spring C is inserted in a hole in the back of disk g and theother end in a hole 0 in the outer portion of the socket b of theseat-arm. The spring C'is oil-tempered steel, and its action istorsional and within fixed limits between its ends, while it hassufficient room laterally to expand and contract, as may be required. Itis difficult to obtain springs of equal tension, even though they bemade from the same piece of wire, and hence, for this reason if for noneother, adjustment of each spring should be provided; but adj ustment mayalso be necessary in case a spring is too strong to begin with or losesits elasticity by age and wear, and the tension may be increased ordiminished by simply rotating the sleeve E, so as to bring the teeth aand g into the required engagement. This is accomplished by releasingthe nut, so as to give room for the teeth to pass one another, thenputting a wrench on the head of the bolt and turning either way, asrequired, and then looking the parts together by tightening the nut.This construction not only makes an effective spring-support for theseat, but one that is noiseless in action, and which, while it issufficient to raise the seat automatically out of the way of the pupilas he rises and stands at his desk, but which is easily drawn down whenreseating occurs.

The construction of the socket for the spring is such as to completelyincase the inside from the accumulation of dust and at the same timeleave the parts free for easy adjustment without doing more thanpartially release the nut and turn the bolt by means of a wrench.

This hinge is herein described as especially adapted to seats forschool-desks; but it may be used in other places and relations whereautomatically-raised seats are wanted.

The washer 7L bears hard against the outer end of the spring-supportingsleeve E, and is loose about the inwardly-proj ectin g flange l) on thesocket 1) near its outer extremity, so that the seatarm will be free toturn when the nut on bolt 1) is tightened. The said washer is locatedwithin the end of socket b, flush therewith, and serves to support thesocket and the arm B through bolt D and sleeve E.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The standard having a disk-face constructed to make adjustableengagement with the sleeve, in combination with the sleeve constructedto look upon said disk-face and having a passage through its center,angular part way in cross-section, a seat-arm having a socketin closingsaid sleeve, a spring around said sleeve in the socket and fastened tothe sleeve and the socket, respectively, at its ends, and a boltconstructed to fit in said sleeve, so as not to turn therein, and havinga tightening-nut, substantially as described.

2. The seat-standard having a disk with an annular shoulder around thesame, and a seatarm with a lateral socket resting at its base on saidshoulder, in combination with asleeve having a disk-face constructed tolock on the disk-face of the standard, a washer to confine the seat-arm,and a bolt locking said washer, the standard, and the intervening sleeverigidly together, and a spring around said sleeve and engaging thescat-arm and rigid with said sleeve and seat-arm, respectively,substantially as described.

\Vitness our hands to the foregoing specification this 7th day of May,1801.

FRANCIS E. DR'URY. OGDEN C. CLARK. \Vitnesses:

II. T. FISHER, N. L. BIOLANE.

